STUDIOCANAL is thrilled to announce the brand new restorations of ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE (1970) and LOOT (1970) – two iconic British films adapted from the work of iconic 60s playwright Joe Orton.

2017 is the 50th anniversary of The 1967 Sexual Offences Act that partially decriminalised male homosexuality in England and Wales. The BFI is marking this with a major two month film and TV season GROSS INDECENCY and a one month JOE ORTON season at the BFI Southbank in August, which includes screenings of ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE and LOOT. The two titles will then be released on 28th August on Blu-Ray for the first time, and also new DVD and EST.

Joe Orton was a playwright and author whose work was imbued with themes of sex, death and homoeroticism. He was a genius ahead of his time and produced work with provocative subject matter that shocked and outraged a conservative Britain, before his life was cut brutally short when he was murdered by his lover, also in 1967.

Thanks to funding from the BFI’s Unlocking Film Heritage programme, ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE and LOOT have been digitally restored and offer never before seen bonus content including new interviews and tributes to the man himself. The Joe Orton titles join STUDIOCANAL’s Vintage Classics collection, showcasing the best of British cinema.

ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE (1970)

Directed By Douglas Hickox

Starring Beryl Reid, Harry Andrews, Peter McEnery & Alan Webb

Considered by many to be his best work, ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE is a story of manipulation and repressed sexuality focusing on an intertwined trio of lovers played by Beryl Reid (The Assassination Bureau, Star) in one of her best performances on screen, Peter McEnery (The Moon Spinners, Victim) as the alluring Mr. Sloane and Harry Andrews (The Agony & The Ecstasy, Battle of Britain). Lonely Kath (Beryl Reid) spots Mr. Sloane in a cemetery and invites him to become a lodger. Despite the age difference, Sloane coyly plays along with her flirtations for his own benefit. Their fun seems over when Kath’s brother Ed (Harry Andrews) shows up, but the prim and proper gentleman also takes a shine to Sloane, hiring him as his chauffeur and taking particular interest in the young man’s tight leather uniform. Kath and Ed’s elderly father Kemp (Alan Webb: The Great Train Robbery, The Taming of the Shrew) however, develops a strong hatred of Sloane, and accuses him of being involved in an unsolved murder.

Farcical comedy LOOT is a satirical look at 20th century society with an impressive ensemble cast including Richard Attenborough(The Angry Silence, Brighton Rock), Lee Remick (The Omen, Days of Wine and Roses), Hywel Bennett (The Family Way, Twisted Nerve) and Milo O’Shea (Arabian Adventure, Barbarella).

Dennis (Hywel Bennett) and his lay-about pal Hal (Roy Holder: The Taming of the Shrew) chance a robbery of the local bank. With nowhere to hide the loot, their only option is to conceal it inside Dennis’s recently deceased mother’s coffin. Once the money is concealed, they move the casket to the hotel belonging to Dennis’s father (Milo O’Shea) under the duplicitous eye of scheming Irish nurse Fay (Lee Remick). All seems well until inept Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough) arrives at the hotel to investigate the crime. Before long the hotel becomes the epicentre of a hilarious farce as the motley crew move the casket back and forth to avoid detection by the incompetent Inspector.

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